208 SURFACE-FEEDING DUCKS. 



with the green speculum and the bluish bill. The 

 note is a loud, whistling ' Whee-yu I ' 



PINTAIL.— Plate 91. 26 inches. Head, face, and 

 throat brown, divided from the black of the nape by 

 a white stripe running from the crown down the sides 

 of the head and neck to the white under parts ; back 

 and sides of body gray, Avith fine wavy markings ; 

 speculum bronze-green, edged with black and white ; 

 two centre tail-feathers extending far beyond the 

 others ; bill, legs, and feet dark gray. Female : 

 mottled brown above ; whitish below, mottled on 

 fore-neck and flanks ; speculum dull greenish. Male 

 in summer resembles female, but the speculum is 

 always full green. Resident and winter migrant. 



Eggs. — 7-10, pale bu ffy -green ; 2-1 x 1-5 inches 

 (plate 130). 



Nest.^ — ^Among coarse herbage near to, but some- 

 times at a slight distance from, water, and lined with 

 feathers from the bird's own bod}''. 



Distribution. — Known almost exclusively as a 

 winter visitor to the British Islands, principally to 

 the southern shores and estuaries, and to the south 

 and west of Ireland. 



The slender build and curiously elongated central 

 tail-feathers of the Pintail Duck have caused it in 

 some places to be called the Sea Pheasant. Although 

 a few pairs arc said to breed very locally in Scotland 

 and Ireland, it is principally as a winter visitant to 

 the shores and estuaries of southern England that 



